Just off the Jade - best cruise ever!!

I've never written a cruise review before - so please be patient. I'm not the best writer, so please be nice. Remember, these are just MY experiences - someone else sailing the same week probably had different ones.

We returned Saturday from a 14 day cruise on the Jade from Venice. Our cruise was a 14 day Adriatic and Greek Isles cruise. We originally booked the first 7 days and then started looking at airfare - we went ahead and booked the second week figuring we were already spending the money to fly to Venice, might as well make the most of it.

We arrived in Venice in Thursday for our cruise that began on Saturday. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Quarto d'Altino, which is on the mainland. We are Platinum with IHG, so figured we'd stay there and hope for the free upgrade. (which we got) They offered a breakfast package with a shuttle to the ship. I know, everyone says stay in Venice, but I wasn't sure about navigating the vaporettos with suitcases. The hotel was nice and right in front of the train station. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and caught the free shuttle to the hotel - we were able to check in on arrival, which was great seeing as we had been awake since the morning before. We had scheduled a gondola ride through Viator at 3 PM in Venice that day - so headed in after freshening up. The train station was right behind the hotel. We arrived amd bought vaporetto tickets and rode to Piazza San Marco. We walked around a while before heading to the square where we were to meet the gondola. Hopefully I attach the photos correctly.

Thank you. Excited to see more. We are doing the same cruise soon.

Can't wait to read the rest of your review! :-)

Your off to great start. Thank you for taking the time to write your review. Looking forward to following along.:)

We are doing the same cruise August 13! Can't wait to hear what you all did!

I'm also really looking forward to your review :)

We set sail on the Jade on 13th August, & as 1st time cruisers any knowledge & information I can gain along with hints/tips etc will be a great help with my planning.

Thank you for taking the time to share your trip with us :):):)

Best cruise ever! I like your style already, especially since it will be our turn soon.:) Thanks for sharing.

Great start to your review. We leave Wednesday for the 8 day leg leaving out of Venice. Excited to read more :) One question, I hope to buy a couple of bottles of wine in Venice (we arrive 2 days early) to take and enjoy on our balcony. I don't mind paying the corkage but wondered if you have to declare it or just show it at the check in point?

Great start to your review. We leave Wednesday for the 8 day leg leaving out of Venice. Excited to read more :) One question, I hope to buy a couple of bottles of wine in Venice (we arrive 2 days early) to take and enjoy on our balcony. I don't mind paying the corkage but wondered if you have to declare it or just show it at the check in point?

I think you just have to show them the bottles and pay the corkage fee - we've never carried wine on, so not sure, but there's probably a table in the check-in area.

For our second day in Venice (first full day) we booked a Doge's Palace and Venice Walking Tour followed by a tour to Murano and Burano. Our happiness about the ease of getting into Venice from our hotel ended. The train workers were on strike from 9 PM on June 23 - 9 PM on June 24 (if I remember correctly) - causing us to have to take an 80€ taxi to Piazzale Roma. Not the end of the world, but kind of a bummer to spend that much money we hadn't planned on. We arrived in Venice at 7:30 AM and started walking, thinking we'd hit the grand canal eventually and pick up a vaparetto to the square near the Rialto Bridge where we were to meet our tour.

I had forgotten to mention before, we had purchased the two-day vaporetto pass the previous day. I was really worried about figuring out the vaporettos, but it wasn't that hard (our city has no public transportation, so I always worry about validating tickets correctly, etc.)

It was an amazing walk, we had no idea where we were and kept following the signs that said "Rialto" - they're painted fairly high up on the buildings, higher than you might expect. I was confused - thinking we were on one side of the canal (the side the Santa Lucia train station was on - we were actually on the other side of the canal) All of a sudden we come upon the bridge and eventually find the Campo de San Bartolomeo. We met our guide and were off. I had read we didn't need a guide in Venice, but I'm glad we booked the tour - it was enjoyable to walk and listen to the information he shared. We had skip the line access to St. Marks Basillica and the Doge's Palace. The guide was really interesting.

Enjoying your review. Was that RR strike just one day or do you know if they have them often. We will be arriving by train from Verona the morning of our cruise so this scares me. It's 1-1/2 hours from Verona. Also, if you can post any dailies or remember show times, it would be appreciated. Ellie.

Following

We had a break for about two hours and it was time to meet our guide for the Murano and Burano tour. We met her at the statue near the San Zaccaria waterbus stop. We had about 30 people on this tour - loaded the boat for the tour and were off. The first stop was Murano - we visited the New Murano Gallery and saw them making some globes for a light fixture. It was really HOT!!

Next we went into the showroom, which was wonderfully cool. They had many beautiful pieces. I had planned to purchase a pendant, but didn't really see anything I liked or that I was willing to pay for. Small glasses were 96€. They did have free wi-fi.

Next we moved on to the island of Burano - with many colorful houses. First they took us to one of the stores so they could show us the beautiful Burano lace. They had nice table cloths for sale and small pieces of the actual Burano Lace - we were told it takes months to complete a small piece.. We didn't purchase anything - just walked around the town until it was time for our tour to leave. Our guide did mention buranelli biscuits- they were like a lemon-butter cookie - we found a bakery and tried one- they were pretty good. (we had skipped lunch)

Our tour returned us to the Zaccaria stop and we caught a vaporetto back to the Piazzale Roma and took a taxi back to the hotel. The taxi back only cost 60€ - guess the morning driver took the long way.

I'm glad we visited the islands and the tour guide shared a lot of interesting information about Venice and the other islands in the lagoon, but we were so tired from the flight and jet lag - I didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to.

Enjoying the photos, thanks!

Enjoying your review. Was that RR strike just one day or do you know if they have them often. We will be arriving by train from Verona the morning of our cruise so this scares me. It's 1-1/2 hours from Verona. Also, if you can post any dailies or remember show times, it would be appreciated. Ellie.

The strike was just one day and on a Friday.

I found this site - it might help you. I don't know if the long distance trains were running or who was on strike. The hotel had a sign up.

http://www.easytravelreport.com/#anchor_2475

I didn't bring the dailies home - I want to say the shows were on at 7:30 and 9:30 - here's a post on that has them uploaded from last year, they look similar to what I remember.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2295325&referrerid=1282271

Following your review.

Keith

Looking forward to reading the rest of the review. I'm doing this cruise in late September.

Enjoying your review. Was that RR strike just one day or do you know if they have them often. We will be arriving by train from Verona the morning of our cruise so this scares me. It's 1-1/2 hours from Verona. Also, if you can post any dailies or remember show times, it would be appreciated. Ellie.

Get off the train at Venezia Mestre and take a cab directly to the cruise terminal - you will be dropped off in front of ship/terminal. Cost will be approx. 40 euros. 15-20 min cab ride.

If you continue by train to the final stop - Venezia St. Lucia - you'll need to walk - a LONG walk - to the ship, or walk (via bridge) to P. Roma and take a short cab to ship (20-25 euros), or try to take a water bus to ship terminal area and then walk more to ship. Too much hassle, esp if you are no spring chicken.

Doesn't the people mover take you from Pl. Roma to the cruise terminal?

Finally - Embarkation Day!!

We ate breakfast at the hotel buffet and waited for the shuttle bus to arrive. The Crowne Plaza is one of the hotels NCL uses and offers shuttle bus transportation from. We booked the Cruise Package directly through the hotel (quite a bit cheaper) that included transportation. There were representatives for the transportation service waiting when we went downstairs at 10 a.m. - the shuttle was scheduled for 11 a.m. There were several large tour busses waiting in front of the hotel - we checked in with the rep and weren't on the list. Checked with the front desk and if you aren't on an NCL transfer - there's a different list. The rest of us were on a different bus and we ended up leaving before the NCL busses.

We arrived at the terminal and there was a line of maybe 50 people waiting - when you got to the top of the ramp they directed you for luggage drop-off based on what part of ship you were on - we were sent to the Aft area and the line was short - bags were placed on a belt that took them somewhere. Next we entered the terminal and right as we walked in found the Haven/Suites check-in area. Check in was fast and they collected our passports. I think it had something to do with porting in Croatia before going to Greece (they didn't collect them for the second week) - We met Patrick, the Concierge and waited a few minutes and were escorted to Cagney's. Patrick's assistant (can't remember her name) gave us a paper with our restaurant reservations listed on them - that was nice to have.

Cagney's was good, as always - husband had his usual - steak and Cagney's fries and I had the flounder milanese. Next we were off to explore the ship and wait for the muster drill.

Our first port was Dubrovnik, Croatia - I hadn't planned a tour here because I couldn't find one that did what I wanted to do - walk the walls. After doing that I realized the walls don't really lend themselves to a "tour" anyway.

We arrived at 2 PM and NCL offered a shuttle into town for $15 round-trip - so we booked that. Walked off the Jade and the shuttle was right there waiting. You could book at the shore excursion desk or as you walked up to the bus - it's easier to book early as you the shore staff has to fill out a form with your information while you wait - not that it takes long, but will still slow you down a bit.

The bus took us into town and dropped us off right outside the Pile gate. I had pre-purchased the Dubrovnik Card online, which included the ticket to the walls. I wasn't sure how many Croatian Kuna we'd need to bring, so I thought it was a good idea to purchase the card ahead of time. It also included entrance into several museums inside the walls that we visited.

The walk was long with lots of stairs, probably not the best idea for someone with mobility problems. It was quite hot that day, but the views were worth the heat. We walked the entire way around the wall - it's a bit over a mile I believe. After that we walked through the Old Town area - lots of stores to see. We spent about 5 hours in the city and caught the bus back to the ship to relax.

It's hard to believe this beautiful old city was under seige between 1991 and 1992 during the Croatian War for Independence. You can see roof tiles that have been replaced - they're a different shade of red.

Doesn't the people mover take you from Pl. Roma to the cruise terminal?

yes it does but depending on where your ship is berthed it can be a long walk from the people mover station[same as Alilaguna stop]

if you get off at St Lucia train station you will need to cross a large bridge with your luggage to access the people mover or a taxi so it does make sense to leave train at Mestre and get a land taxi which will be able to drop you outside the bag drop for your ship

Doesn't the people mover take you from Pl. Roma to the cruise terminal?

yes it does but depending on where your ship is berthed it can be a long walk from the people mover station[same as Alilaguna stop]

 

if you get off at St Lucia train station you will need to cross a large bridge with your luggage to access the people mover or a taxi so it does make sense to leave train at Mestre and get a land taxi which will be able to drop you outside the bag drop for your ship

I concur with fabnfortysomething ...

When we were in Venice for few days on Oct 2014 we went on a long waterbus ride that went around the cruise ship terminals .. I saw the People Mover and my jaw dropped. I'd heard about it and people saying on these boards how great it was - they must have been spring chickens! There is a quite a walk to that people mover from St. Lucia AND from that people mover to the ship. When the day came for us to board the ship we took a taxi from P. Roma directly to the ship, and when we disembarked the ship we took a cab directly to Mestre for the train back to Milan. We'd booked train tickets to and from St. Lucia. We went to St. Lucia as the hotel was close by, but when we disembarked we chose to go by cab to Mestre rather than struggle to go to St. Lucia.

Remember Venice will be VERY warm next month.

Hey ... we're going back to Venice this coming Oct for a few days!! We loved that place! Then we fly to BCN to catch the Jade for the pond crossing.

OP, sorry to hijack your thread! Keep your review and photos coming!!

Thanks for the review.

Our first port was Dubrovnik, Croatia - I hadn't planned a tour here because I couldn't find one that did what I wanted to do - walk the walls. After doing that I realized the walls don't really lend themselves to a "tour" anyway.

How long did it take you to walk the walls? I'm hoping to do that and ride up the cable car - sounds like there will be time to do that? Which museums did you see, and did you feel the Dubrovnik card was worth it in the end?

Thanks for the review. :)